


Keep it Close to Your Heart

by majorbitchwillgraham



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M, Post TWOTL, Romance, Sweetness, They Are Husbands, lowkey masturbation, similar to letter writing, time apart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:54:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24265432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majorbitchwillgraham/pseuds/majorbitchwillgraham
Summary: A story based on a portrait photo of Mads/Hannibal and with inspiration from the primavera scene where Will looks at Hanni’s photo of his younger self :) you know that tradition where couples would send photos of each other if they were apart?Hannibal goes on a trip and sends Will the photograph as a romantic gesture.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 65





	Keep it Close to Your Heart

Day 1

Hannibal had said “I will be gone for aproximately a month,” a hint of hesitation or consideration for Will barely visible in the lack of expression on his face, “there are two people in that city who might have known I decided to move here, they are the only ones who could have known, and I plan to kill them. But besides from the time it will take me to evaluate the surroundings and find a place to stay, I intend to let time pass between both of their deaths. All of this also asuming there aren’t any difficulties.” Will notices how he chose to say “dificulties” instead of “complications”.

“I can come with you and help you.” Will says this calmly, looking him in the eyes and disliking how there’s a feeling of concern inevitably starting to form inside him.

“No, I… I don’t want to risk you” Hannibal admits, his thumb stroking Will’s jawline. Will sighs.

“What about you?” He puts his hand over Hannibal’s, “Are you the one being put at risk– So, are they dangerous?” Will grimaces. Hannibal lowers his hand.

“Not regarding intellect.” Hannibal’s voice nearly flat, and there almost seemed to be a glint in his eye.

Will is mad at himself after he lets him go. Hannibal can’t simply ignore his human vulnerability, no matter how confident he is in his abilities.

Pictures Hannibal being successful without a single complication. Which is the thing most likely to happen. Pictures the dead bodies. Who are they though. Are they good people– The concern evaporates in seconds, after all this is not the first time Will has indirectly allowed others to be sacrificed in order to save his own skin. Only now it is both their skins. Something he won’t hesitate protecting now.

Day 15

It’s the first time Hannibal has been gone, like this, since they got together. Of course Hannibal wouldn’t have stepped half a mile away when they were still… clouded with that bittersweet uncertainity. Will is pretty much spoiled by now, he realizes, when he gets disappointed at how no one joins him in the shower, forehead pressed against the back of his neck.

Will never thought one day he would feel so calm, knowing the person he waits for is his husband. He takes the dogs out in the morning while he seizes the opportunity of checking their often empty mailbox. He feels silly opening it, “it’s only been 15 days, it’s not like he’s gonna–” and his fingers meet an envelope waiting there.

The envelope had written on it with the characteristic calligraphy Will knows so well: “For you”. He is surprised when inside there isn’t a letter, but a photograph. A photograph of Hannibal.

Will doesn’t really need to question it because he already knows what this gesture means. He probably went into his grandma’s box of photographs and found a similar portrait of a young her, and was told “I gave that to your grandfather”. This is a gesture that says “Think about me”. His eyes begin to smile at the thought.

He almost doesn’t notice how his hand holding the photo caresses it a little, while he looks at the expression on Hannibal’s face. He isn’t smiling. He is looking straight at the camera (who did he ask to take him this picture..?) with a look in his eyes… it has half calm in it, and the other half is the one used for pinning against the wall, only with Will it’s with a different intention. Will’s eyes go through the strand of hair falling on his forehead, and the softness of his neck. As if the tenderness in his eyes could be felt as a caress along the same path.

He notices the other side of the photograph has something else written on it, with the same calligraphy.

The photo says:

“Keep this photograph close to your heart, knowing I think of nothing but your lips and only look forward to hold you in my arms again”

Will can feel a rush of heat run through him as soon as he finishes reading the sentence. The first thing he can do is let out a brief laugh, breathless, more like a nervous exhale, as he is thinking “are we 1940’s lovebirds now?”. He is biting his lip and smiling, because it’s not that he didn’t like it; it’s just the immediate defense mechanism that tells him something is too good to be true and so there has to be something funny about it.

In their time together so far, Hannibal’s affection had slowly drenched him and soothed him into healing, but Will never expected him to do this. What had he known about love?, all his life people didn’t get close enough in the first place, and when they did, it had been “you are cute but you are too weird”, “I just wanted someone to pass the time with”, “I think there is something wrong with you”, and even “I wouldn’t be good for you and you wouldn’t be good for me”. Even with the notable exception of “the person I love isn’t even who you really are” which wasn’t bad at all, love had never felt real, it felt always like an abstract concept, an alternate reality of something he knew deep down would happen to other people but not him.

When he is holding the photograph Hannibal just sent him, he knows once again that his entire existence since he had met him has been real. What was love now? Looks that don’t need to speak a single word, pain that fills two bodies at once. Knowing the face in the photograph and the hadwriting on it match, and realizing you have never feared and loved anyone else more in your life.

Will can’t help but close his eyes, the wind is running through his hair and the grass of the field, and the image appears of Hannibal sitting next to a window somewhere, he has barely spoken in the entire day and his eyes are fixed on the dust floating around but suddenly a smile forms on his mouth because _he is thinking of Will’s lips_ , he is thinking of him. And then the sensation of unbelievable softness around him, the relief of listening to Hannibal breathing while he holds him.

He carefully puts the photograph inside the pocket on his chest and heads back to the house together with the dogs.

Day 19

Only a few days have passed but he has to admit he really misses Hannibal. Especially because they are not talking on the phone. Hannibal didn’t want anyone there to know he was no longer alone. He took the time to send the photograph because he misses him too.

Will put Hannibal’s photograph on the mirror of their bedroom, he gives a look at it before beginning a day of work. One day he feels goofy and winks at it, after he is done getting dressed.

And one night as Will had decided to look at it for a while before falling asleep, the yellowish light from the table lamp giving the image just enough clarity, Will looks at Hannibal’s mouth and finds himself now imagining how those lips feel kissing on his neck, or how they look starting to suck on his dick. He looks down at himself with a sigh as if that would help the image to form better, then glances at the dogs who are sleeping soundly before sliding a hand down his body.

He looks at that jawline, and imagines himself kissing all over it like he did the other night, Hannibal’s hands tightening on his arms showing how much he was liking it.

Now his mouth kissing Hannibal’s chest until he finally turns them around and pins Will down, returning to the image of Hannibal going down his body, taking him in his mouth.

Will is breathing heavily at this point, his eyes are closed, the hand holding the photograph has been put aside on the bed, his other hand starts moving faster and he just has to picture Hannibal sucking him off repeteadly until he at last comes all over the sheet that was covering him. He lets out an exclamation as quietly as he can, then waits for his breathing to slow down savouring the last bits of pleasure.

He looks at his hand still holding the picture, and wearily turns his body around to leave it on the bedside table, his feet clumsily discarding the sheets to the floor. Will bites his lip absentmindedly, giving one last look at it, before placing it on the surface and falling on his back, exhausted.

“I’m not sure this is what he meant with ‘keep it close to your heart’”. Will contemplates earnestly, eyebrows raising, and soon his eyelids begin to become heavy.

As if the picture could move, the last thing he sees before falling asleep is Hannibal looking down away from the camera, almost shyly, with a calm smile.

Day 30

Today is the 30th day. Hannibal could return today, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow… For the first time Will frowns about the fact that he wasn’t able to tell him an exact date. That doesn’t help Will be convinced that he could handle things without complications or being in danger. Will’s concerned look gets a hint of sadness as he heads upstairs to grab Hannibal’s photograph from their mirror.

“Even without the photograph, I would have thought of you” Will’s inner voice speaks as if Hannibal somewhere could hear him.

He frowns a little when he notices the photo is damaged at the edges. If for some reason Hannibal never came back, this would be the only– woah. There was no reason for fatalist thoughts at that moment. He just had to wait. Besides, he reminds himself with a smirk, what are anybody’s chances against Hannibal Lecter’s determination to kill you.

Will knows he is married to a monster. As far as the definition goes; but Hannibal changed him as much as he changed Hannibal, and he has taught him that monsters can be beautiful.

A monster was the only one who could see right through him and in many ways truly appreciate the value within him. The only one to see him as a radiance with blood and breath undergoing change and fueling it, instead of just “unstable”. Hannibal, in his monstrous way, loved him more than anyone. Will’s heart aches at the thought. He knows he feels the same.

Will sits on a chair at the porch and he is holding the photograph, his hand resting on his lap. He looks at the photo of Hannibal and thinks to himself, “my beautiful husband”, frankly and without any restraint.

That is when Will feels it, a faint breeze on the back of his neck, his eyes look up from his lap and into the distance, because they are not looking at anything in front of him, it’s nothing but an automatic movement that allows the rest of the senses to focus, after all, of all places it’s behind him where his eyes should be looking. He puts the photo on his shirt pocket.

The sensation is almost imperceptible and being picked up by that inexplicable part of the brain, the same that knows when someone is looking at you, probably for survival purposes.

What part of the mind senses it, when no sound has been made to alert you? “Could it not be the mind then…but my heart?” Will thinks, because in a couple of seconds he knew it:

_My love has returned home._

He gets up with ease and nonchalance from the chair, turns around without any precaution, and Hannibal is suddenly standing there on the porch a meter away from him. A small smile starts forming on Will’s lips when their eyes meet.

The smile turns mischievous and Will turns around again, decidedly walking towards the house’s entrance and into their home so he can wait for Hannibal behind the main door. Hannibal smiles in a quiet content, as he wasn’t entirely expecting this, but goes along with it, following Will’s steps and standing outside the door, revealing playfulness just a little.

Will looks at him silently through the screen fabric, before shyly looking down again, like he is waiting for him to say something. So Hannibal begins.

“Kind Sir, I’m just a traveler who is tired after his long journey, would you allow me rest in your home?”

“Well, I have never let a stranger in before… how can I know if you are dangerous?” Will gives him an innocent look, “besides, I live in a humble home. I’m not sure here could be much for me to offer you?”

Hannibal takes a step closer to the door, in a way his faces are only a few inches apart, and Will rests the side of his head against it still looking at his husband.

“…I’m sure a house as lovely as its owner has very comfortable beds to offer. But the most comfortable for me.. certainly must be your own.”

Will looks down, mildly overwhelmed and enjoying it, then immediately opens the door welcoming Hannibal in, and they look at each other, now without any barrier. They don’t say a word and get trapped in each other’s arms; they know this means “I missed you. Glad you are ok”. Both their eyes are closed in peaceful enjoyment, Will’s mouth rests against Hannibal’s shoulder, while he nuzzles against his hair.

When they break the embrace, although continuing to hold each other, Will lays his back against one of the walls of the entrance, enjoying Hannibal’s gaze on him.

“Did you.. get the photograph?” Hannibal can’t contain himself.

“Yes.” Will smiles, “Loved it.”

The written message had been precisely tender and never too sweet even for him, and he hadn’t absolutely done anything else with it other than look–

“Did you touch yourself looking at it?”

Hannibal is barely smiling and his eyes are blinking in that way only he knows how… Will looks down at his lips for a moment, enjoying how the blood starts rushing downwards.

“Yes.” he admits shamelessly, looking him in the eyes again.

Also now he can finally admit to himself how insanely it turns him on Hannibal looking all the way through to the bottom of his skull, or is it just how he looks like he might be ready to eat Will right now, but instead Hannibal slides a hand through Will’s hair to gently kiss him on the lips. Delicately like a butterfly posing on a flower, savouring what he hadn’t had the chance to in an entire month and had constantly desired. Will’s trembling hand slowly lands on the side of his neck, fingers curling against it as they begin to kiss painfully slow.


End file.
